( it’s selfish steroid users like these guys who may well end up getting them criminalized in the UK. )

The use of body building drugs is so widespread at one Bristol gym that staff have installed special bins to dispose of syringes.

Staff at Fitness First in Cribbs Causeway put the box – known as a sharps box – in the male toilets at the popular gym after complaints that syringes were being left in the changing room.

Fitness First said it does not tolerate the use of needles but installed the box to protect other members and is closely monitoring the situation.

It said any member found to be engaging in behaviour likely to tarnish the company’s reputation would have their contract terminated immediately.

After members complained to the Evening Post a reporter attended the site.

They discovered a sharps box for disposing syringes in one of the cubicles in the gentlemen’s toilet.

Within the box was at least one syringe and an empty box of Kigtropin – an illegal human growth hormone manufactured in China and used in the development of muscle mass.

Kigtropin is a brand name for somatropin which is listed as a class C drug by the Home Office.

Possession of a class C drug can be punished by up to two years in prison or an unlimited fine or both. Dealing a class C drug can result in up to 14 years in prison or an unlimited fine or both.

Two members of the gym, who wished to remain anonymous, had contacted the Post to register their anger and concern at the situation.

One said: “I see a lot of syringes around the gym but nobody seems to do anything about it.

“I have seen people injecting in the changing rooms, it’s quite a common thing and is an ongoing problem.

“The gym seem to have dealt with it by putting a sharps box in the toilet but to me that is just condoning it rather than condemning it, which is what they should be doing. It’s a terrible example to be setting and unacceptable whichever way you look at it.

“I have seen syringes on the floor, in the toilet and piled high in the sharps box provided – something needs to be done.”

The other member added: “It has been going for about a year and is just getting worse. I have even seen syringes on the gym floor upstairs.

“I think people are very worried about it but too frightened to complain. I am very concerned that someone could catch something off one of these needles.

“It’s a lovely club and I wouldn’t want it to close but something has to be done.”

A spokeswoman for Fitness First said: “At Fitness First we do not tolerate any behaviour of this nature in any of our clubs, and the protection of our members while on our premises is of paramount importance.

“If, in our reasonable opinion, a member’s continued membership is likely to be injurious to the character and interests of any particular club, we terminate that membership without notice. This is clearly laid out in the terms and conditions of every membership.

“At our Cribbs Causeway club, we are aware of member concerns and as such have installed sharps boxes for the protection of other members, while increasing our club monitoring procedures to identify any unacceptable or illegal behaviour.”

( the only place you should risk injecting yourself is in the privacy of your own home. Injecting in a gym’s locker room is offensive to other gym users and a health risk. )